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For those dealing with a language that involves changing words based on the use of various cases…we all feel your pain. A brief story:
Me: “Imam voda.” (Incorrect Croatian for “I have water.”)
A Croatian: “No, it’s imam vodu.”
Me: “You know what, water is water, it doesn’t change just because I now have it!!!”
Over time, one learns that when words function differently in a sentence, it can feel right to alter the word based on its function. The above example doesn’t display the use of the dative case; it shows an example of the accusative case. You probably have that one under control already, if not, there’s a blog post somewhere on this website discussing it. Now, we face the issue of understanding the dative case and all of the problems that go along with it.
First things first… How do you pronounce dative anyway? Is it an “a” as in apple? Or an “a” as in date (the fruit or the social event….I could use either!)? I really don’t know and don’t care too much. It’s like the word data…how do you pronounce that? My gut says the “a” is long as in the word “date” for “dative” Let’s go with that.
Ok, if you survived that almost-useless tangent, onward with some information about the dative case. UNDERSTAND THIS!!!: This is only meant to be a very, very general preview of the dative case so that you can have some kind of conceptual idea about this grammatical thingamabob. It’s actual use may vary depending on the language you are studying. Also, if you remember from one of our blog posts about prepositions, you might find yourself forced to use various cases for what seems like no logical reason at all. Deal with it, enjoy it, and realize that if you learn these nuances, people who are native speakers of the foreign language you are learning will be slightly more impressed.
Ok, ok…finally, the dative case. It’s typically used for the indirect object. So “I gave the hovercraft to George.” You are giving the hovercraft…it is the direct object. Imagine the sentence is actually one of these things. I didn’t know what this was called but a Google search of “clicky balls” took me there on the first hit. The subject hits the verb that hits the direct object which then gets transferred to the indirect object. I – give – hovercraft – George. Therefore, it is the word George, the indirect object, that you would have to consider adjusting to the dative case. So, in summary, in languages that have the dative case, be prepared to apply this case to words that function as indirect objects. All other details on how to do this will be language specific. That’s enough for now….
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